AN: I have this perfect world in my head. In it, this story happens. And please feed the author!

Good Days

The alarm buzzed in his ear as it usually did on weekday mornings, only something seemed off to him. He could have sworn he'd gone to bed last night knowing it was Friday. The alarm was gone nearly as quickly as it had come, signaling the awakening of the other person in the bed.

Hunter rolled over, already tangled in the sheets and not awake enough yet to care. The black ruffle haired head turned to him, still free of his glasses but clearly awake. Cam smiled at him, and he couldn't stay mad about the alarm.

There was no better way to wake up than staring into Cam's smiling eyes.

Hunter leaned forward to kiss him, and Cam caressed his neck.

When he pulled away though, he had to ask. "Was the alarm really necessary?"

"It's Saturday morning." Cam supplied, as though that was supposed to mean something. "Pancake day."

Hunter couldn't help grinning. "We never should have started that."

Cam rolled closer to him, snuggling up next to him as though he intended to snooze for a while, when he was really already very awake. "We? It was your idea."

"I know but…" Hunter wrapped his arm around Cam and kissed his forehead. "It would be nice to spend just one Saturday morning in bed."

Before Cam could respond there was a crash that sounded like it came from the living room, followed by a loud giggle.

Cam's response was a laugh. "Not for the next 10-15 years, darling."

It was Saturday, so a visit with Oji and a trip to the academy was in order. Cam helped Mani get ready; the poor boy still hadn't learned how to tie his shoes and he refused to let Cam buy him some with Velcro. He was as stubborn as Hunter, and as smart as Cam. He was going to be a real terror one day.

Liat, on the other hand, was dressed and ready to go before they'd finished breakfast. The academy was the one place she had no apprehension about. She got anxious each morning about going to school, hated the doctors, and usually tried to fain sickness when they were going shopping. Her fear of public places wasn't unusual, according to Hunter. He'd been afraid of even the familiar places after his parents had died.

Something about the academies, though. She loved going, and they were possibly the only place she was happy and friendly the entire time.

It made the weekly trips worth it.

They took Hunter's truck, the only vehicle capable of getting up the mountain. Cam's hybrid wasn't exactly an off road vehicle. By the time they'd reached the portal Liat was bouncing in her seat.

As soon as Cam opened the door she bounded out and ran towards the waterfall, shouting "Power of Air, Earth, and Water combined!" And disappeared to the other side.

Cam knew his father would be waiting for them, so he didn't worry about chasing after her right away. Mani was tired today; he was holding out his arms to be carried.

He'd told Hunter to stop letting him do that. He'd throw out his back if Mani got any bigger. But Hunter couldn't resist the look on the 7 year olds face, and ended up carrying him anyway.

They entered the portal and found Liat already rambling to her grandfather.

"I drew a picture for you too, Oji, I brought it in my bag." Liat had spilled out the contents of her purse onto the ground. Among them were a chap stick, some sunscreen, a fruit bar, three pink pens with differing ink colors, and her notepad, of which she was pulling out a page. "And then Mrs. Cranston taught us about World War 2 and she got mad at me when I asked what part Ninja's played in the army!"

Cam shot Hunter a look, but Hunter rolled his eyes.

Sensei Watanabe looked up with a grin as they approached. "It seems to have been an eventful week."

"Hi, Dad." Cam greeted as he stooped down to tell Liat to pick up her things and put them back in her purse. He shouldn't have let her bring it in the first place; he knew he'd end up holding it before the day was over.

"Good morning, Hunter." His father was saying. "And hello there, Manisilat." His dad often spoke to his children in Cantonese, their first language. Hunter couldn't speak it very well, and he didn't like feeling left out, but he tried to keep his mouth shut. As long as Cam told him what had been said later.

His dad asked Mani how he was, Mani said he was happy, and then Liat was interrupting.

"Oji, can we practice some more earth bending moves today?" She asked happily, and Cam glanced at his dad as pointedly as he could.

Sensei caught it. "Perhaps one or two, if we have time." And chose to ignore it, apparently.

"Hey, why don't we go say his to Sensei Robin?" Hunter asked, and Liat clapped happily.

Robin had been one of his Samurai students when he was still teaching, and she'd pretty much taken over the program when he'd left. It was disconcerting, really, that his place at the academies had been filled so easily.

Hunter took Liat and Mani to go visit with the Samurai teachers, and left Cam and his dad alone for a short while.

"I still find it hard to believe she is the little girl who was so frightened of me only a year ago." His father reflected, and Cam agreed.

"Just think," He mused. "Another year and she'll be with you 5 days a week after school in the youth program."

His fathers laugh was both amused and sad. "I'm not sure I have the strength!" He was holding up the drawing Liat had given him.

It was actually rather good, for a 9 year old. A butterfly on a flower, and weirdly colored, but still. He noticed an air symbol on the butterfly and shook his head.

"It will be the envy of every grandparent on campus." His father assured, rolling it up fondly and placing it inside his robe.

They were quiet a moment, and then Cam couldn't help asking. "So what went wrong this week?"

His father sighed. "There was a problem with the generators in the teachers building on Wednesday, and CyberCam has been offline since yesterday afternoon."

"Offline? Really?" They began heading towards the new and upgraded ninja ops they had rebuilt after Lothor's defeat. "The generators might be skipping because of buildup in the system. I can take a look."

"I do not invite you here each week to repair the Academy's malfunctions, Cameron." Sensei told him for possibly the hundredth time.

"I know, dad." Cam assured. He'd helped build the Academy to be high tech, and shouldn't have assumed it would be so easy for him to leave. It was nice to know there was still something here that no one else could do. "It's nice to be needed."

His father laughed. "And I suppose putting a want ad for a computer technician for a secret ninja academy in the paper might not be a wonderful idea."

He generally judged how the day had gone by how big of a mess the house was in at the end of it.

The dishes were piled in the sink, the stove needed to be cleaned, there was mud on the tile by the back door, and the kids coloring books were spread across the living room floor from which Cam had just picked up their sleeping son. Cam would put him to bed, as he'd already done with Liat, and then they'd pick up what was left of the house and fall into exhausted sleep themselves.

Saturdays were the only days the kids were allowed to stay up late, and they usually passed out a half an hour after their bedtime anyway. Hunter picked up the coloring books and set them on the table, and put the crayons in their box, knowing they'd just be scattered around again the next morning. He put the dishes to soak, figuring on doing them in the morning, and wiped down the stove with some Windex. He covered the mud with a rag, and made up his mind not to let Cam mop it tonight.

Yeah, that was good enough.

Hunter was aggressive tonight, Cam noticed. He tried to reach up to tug on his hair but Hunter caught his hand and slammed it back against the headboard. The 'thunk' resounded around the room and Cam bit back his giggled with a scolding.

"You'll wake them up!" He whispered harshly, but he was silenced with a hard bite. He hissed and bit back a moan, and then Hunters mouth was on top of his.

When they broke apart all Hunter had to say was, "Guess we'll just have to gag you, then."

There was no alarm this morning, but he had the peculiar feeling that he was being watched as he came to. He waited to open his eyes, to see if anything was amiss, but he was sure he was still in his bed. When he did open them he found two identical sets of brown eyes staring back at him.

"Hello." He mumbled.

They both shrieked and ran off down the hallway shouting "He's awake! We don't have to be quiet anymore! He's awake!"

Hunter grinned to himself and yawned, wondering what they'd done this time. Cam entered the room a moment later, two cups of coffee in his hands.

"Sorry about that." He said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He was already dressed and awake, and Hunter wondered how long he'd slept.

"Never be angry at the guy with the coffee." Hunter mumbled, and Cam happily handed him his cup. "You going to work?"

"Only for a few hours. I've got to work on the presentation before tomorrows meeting." Cam told him, and Hunter nodded. He really had no idea what Cam was doing at Intel, but after he'd showed them his holographic designs they'd practically begged him to come to work for them. Cam tried to keep Hunter updated, and that was all he asked.

The great thing was that he set his own hours. He was only at work as long as the kids were at school, and between his job and Hunter teaching at the thunder academy their family got to spend a lot more time together than any other family they knew.

It couldn't be more perfect.

"They're hyper this morning." Cam warned him, his train of thought having gone somewhere else.

"Tell me something I don't know." Hunter agreed, and Cam just leaned down to kiss him.

"I love you." Cam whispered, and Hunter kissed him again. He was wrong- it had just become better than perfect.

He sipped his coffee, and decided not to wonder when things had gotten so fantastic. "Seems like another good day ahead."